Don't Blame Us, Con - PFA

Following a week of complex stand-offs, meetings and negotiations that involved players, staff, administrators and the PFA, it was decided that the Jets players would not boycott their decisive Asian Champions League encounter against Ulsan Hyundai.

The issue was separate match payments for their ACL clashes, which has since been clarified as one to be decided between the PFA and Football Federation Australia (FFA).

However, despite the positive outcome of the meeting between club owner Con Constantine and the players, the PFA have criticized the Jets management for their conduct during the affair.

"We are disappointed in the comments made by the Jets mangement because we don't think they're factually accurate," Schwab said.

"What emerged last week was a very strong sense of anger and frustration within the playing group about two matters.

"The first one is about the long-standing series of problems at the Jets when it comes to the management of player relations and player welfare issues.

"And the second was a sense of frustration in the protracted negotiations between FFA and the PFA over establishing a league-wide agreement to deal with all clubs from the A-League who qualify for the Asian Champions League.

"We opened negotiations with FFA at its invitation in December once FFA was appointed to bargain with us in these matters by the clubs and we tabled our proposal in January.

"But unfortunately it wasn't until late last week that we received the first proposal from FFA.

"Those two matters I think lead to the emergence of a strongly communicated degree of frustration at the Jets, which didn't occur at the Central Coast Mariners.

"I think the club has to ask itself why that was the case."

Schwab added that the issue was not simply one of remuneration of match payments for players but of a culture of cost-cutting at the club.

He added: "I think the Jets unfortunately have a culture where they feel that any matter raised by the players is an expense.

"The club unfortunately tries to cut expenses and minimize expenses in areas we think go to the heart of its professionalism and the heart of the environment in which the players have to work.

"We think that rather than look at everything as an expense, the club needs to see that the players are our major asset.

 "The more we invest in our players - not just in terms of remuneration but more importantly in many instances, the professional environment in which the players work - the greater the return the club will receive on its investment."

When pressed about comments made by both Constantine and chief executive John Tsatsimas - who claimed that the PFA had used the Jets players as a medium for promoting their own interests - Schwab refused to blame any particular individual.

"I think what's important is to understand that no individual within football is bigger than the game," he said.

"That is a comment which is often made of players but it's something that applies to every participant in football, be it the board of FFA or to those that invest in and own clubs.

"Ultimately of course, if not financially then spiritually and emotionally, clubs are owned by their fans and their fans want to know that their players are treated in a way that will maximize their competitiveness on and off the field.

"We have agreed to run the A-League in a collaborative and co-operative manner and that means that everyone must embrace minimum standards, as well as aspiring to create an environment which at least matches the best on offer within Asia."

The PFA chief executive also denied that the representative body's reputation had been damaged in light of the incidents over the past week that included heavy criticism and accusations from the Jets board.

He has now asked the Jets administrators to assess themselves and identify issues that have lead to player-club conflicts in the past, rather than "conveniently blame" the PFA for such problems.

"I think it's very easy for, particularly at a club like the Newcastle Jets, people to throw stones at the PFA but that doesn't worry us," Schwab said.

"To be honest, if the club was not so determined to defend its own reputation then it wouldn't have made the allegations that it did against the PFA.

"We're very satisfied that the allegations made by the club - which include that we went in and tried to organize a boycott - are completely unfounded.

"We've actually written to the club and suggested to it that it needs to respond to the events of the last week in one of two ways: it can either meaningfully address the cultural issues within the club which lead to a consistent emergence of these issues or it can conveniently lay blame at the foot of the PFA.

"We hope for the fans and the players of Newcastle Jets that the club takes the former approach."